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LASD Sergeant Arrested, Charged With Molesting Deputy

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) – A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s sergeant is accused of repeatedly molesting a deputy he supervised and forcing her to provide sexual favors in exchange for his approving her time-off requests.

The sheriff’s department confirmed to CBS2 Tuesday that 37-year-old Sgt. Michael Spina was arrested Aug. 9 on misdemeanor charges of sexual battery. Spina has been on administrative leave since Aug. 5, LASD said in a statement Monday.

Spina, a 16-year veteran of the department, made $205,543 in pay and benefits in 2016, according to Transparent California.

Spina was working at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in July 2016 when he ordered a female deputy into his office and locked the door, telling her she “owed” him for giving her a day off, according to the document written by Deputy District Attorney Sean Hassett and cited by The Los Angeles Times.

Spina touched the woman’s breast over her shirt while watching a pornographic video and masturbating, the memo says. The woman said that in February 2016, Spina demanded similar treatment, and she complied out of fear that her day off would not be approved.

Spina is also accused of inappropriately touching the deputy in June 2016 and asking if he could perform a sexual act on her, to which she repeatedly refused.

The case was initially investigated by the LASD Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau, which referred the matter to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Justice System Integrity Division, which handles alleged crimes by law enforcement officials.

The charges, however, are being prosecuted by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office — not the District attorney’s Office — because they’re misdemeanors.

Spina was booked into L.A. County jail Aug. 9 and released the same day on $20,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in Los Angeles Superior Court on or before Sept. 27.